Shoe-tree.



R. MURRAY.

SHOE TREE.

APPLICATION FILED My. 8. 191a 1 @QQA 1 U, Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

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3 nuewto'c Richard Mammy alto cue 5 R. MURRAY.

SHOE TREE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. a. 1918.

1 302 410 Patented Apr. 29,1919.

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Richard Mwm 3% hi6 (immune-13S run srans SHOE-TREE.

Application filed January 8, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD MURRAY, a citizen of the United States, and residing at New York. in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe- Trees, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to shoe trees, and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which is adapted for use in connection with shoes of difierent sizes and which may be adjusted in use for this purpose; a further object being to provide a device of the class specified which involves oppositely arranged spring or elastic jaws, one of which is of greater dimensions than than the other whereby the use of the device, or the operation thereof, is facilitated in view of the fact that one side of the foot is of greater dimensions than the other both longitudinally and transversely; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in a shoe tree constructed and adapted to be operated as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accom panying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which 1- Figure 1 is a plan view of the shoe tree involving my invention;

Fig. 2 a side view looking in the direction of the arrow 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a bottom plan view of the main part of the device and showing the operative parts or jaws in a position different from that shown in Fig. l; I

Fig. 4: a Side view looking in the direction of the arrow 4 of Fig. 1 with part of the construction broken away;

Fig. 5 a partial section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1 with part of the construction broken away; and,

Fig. 6 a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

In the practice of my invention, I provide an oblong rectangular body casing a preferably composed of sheet metal bent to form a bottom portion a a top portion a an outer end portion a and an inner or front end portion (1- and the top and bottom members 0: and a? are lJ-shaped in form in cross section whereby the sides of the body casing are pro Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2%, i fl Serial No. 210,828.

vided, in the construction shown, with longitudinal slots or openingsa a, and the top a is also provided with a central longitudinal slot or opening a.

The inner or front end portion a of the body casing a is provided at the bottom thereof with a forwardly directed flange a and the bottom of said body casing is extended and bent to form an elongated loop (6 the top of which is riveted between the flange a and the shank end of the bottom portion of the loop a as shown at a Within the body casing a is secured a longitudinal rack I) having upwardly directed end pieces 6 and b and the rear end piece 5 is provided with a lug 6* which passes through a corresponding aperture in the end c0 of the body casing a and the front end portion of the rack bar 6 is provided with a lug b, which passes downwardly through a corresponding aperture in the body a of the body casing, and this construction securely holds the rack bar Z) in said oody casing and prevents any movement thereof therein.

Within the body casing a is placed a longitudinally movable yoke-shaped slide a, the rear end portion of which is provided with an angular cross head 0 part of which is flush with the bottom of the top a of the body casing a as shown at 0 and a pin 0* is secured in the part c and passes through the slot (4 and 1S provlded with a pointer c which operates in connection with a scale o on the top a of the body casing a.

The sides 0 of the yoke-shaped slide 0 extend through the front end a of the body casing a and are movable therethrough, and said side 0 forms jaws between which is pivoted a handle member d, and placed between the a-ws c and the handle member (Z are washers 0 The handle member at is provided at its front end with a laterally directed thumb or finger piece (Z and pivoted rearwardly of said thumb or finger piece d as shown at (Z is a link a? to the front end of which is se cured a heel block 6, this connection being preferably made by passing the link member the slide 0 in the operation of the device as hereinafter described.

Pivoted to the bottom of the body casing a and preferably forwardly of the transverse center thereof are links 9 and g and connected with the free end portions of the links 9 and g are elastic spring jaws h which are formed, connected and operated in the following manner.

The jaws h, in the construction shown, are formed integrally or from a single spring rod or heavy spring wire, and in the open tion of forming said jaws the rod or wire is bent approximately, centrally to form a yoke'shaped loop if, the cross head of which passes through the elongated loop a, and the sides of said yoke-shaped loop extend downwardly and are bent upwardly to form arms b and then backwardly and downwardly to form the top parts h of said spring jaws, and said top parts ii. extend backwardly beyond the end of the body casing a and are bent forwardly and backwardly to form horizontal base loop memhere it for said spring jaws. The base loop members it extend forwardly to a point preferably about two-thirds of the length of the said jaw members and the backwardly directed inner parts it of said loop members 72 are bent forwardly to form horizontal loop members 7t? and the forwardly directed portions h of said loops ]L7 are bent vertically as shown at h and passed through the free ends of the links g and and the backwardly directed portions it of said vertically bent portions k are bent forwardly to form backwardly directed loops h and the forwardly directed portions h of the loops 71 are inclined upwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the ends thereof are bent to form a plurality of horizontal spring loop members k the ends of which are provided with vertical loop members it which are adapted in the normal position of the shoe tree or the spring j aws h thereof, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and erto bear on the sides of the body casing a.

It will also be seen that the various parts of the spring aw members 71, are so formed that the outer jaw member is of greater transverse dimensions than the inner jaw member while the longitudinal dimensions are approximately the same and the inclination of the forwardly directed inclined portion it is greater in the inner jaw it than 1n the outer jaw and this adapts the separate jaw members to the difference in the form of the inner and outer sides of the shoe occasioned by the great toe on the inner side of the foot and the lesser toe on the outer side of the foot and a corresponding difference in the transverse shapeof the foot itself. It will also be understood that by reason of the fact that the jaw members it areentirely composed of spring material, my improved tree will adjust itself to shoes designed for feet having different physicial characteristics or form.

The foregoing completes the structural description of my improved shoe tree and the operation will be readily understood from the fore 'oing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement. The position of the parts shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4L, 5 and 6 are the normal positions thereof, in which the pawl f is suspended from the slide 0 within the recess f and in applying the shoe tree within the shoe the slide 0 is moved forwardly by grasping the handle 0? to bring the pointer 0" "to the desired position on the scale a and, in practice, said pointer is prcf erably brought to designate a half size larger than the size of the shoe, or a full size larger, if desired, in which position of the pointer, the pawl f will engage one of the teeth in the rack 7) in the backward movement of the slide 0 and the heel block 6 is placed in the heel portion of the shoe, while in the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 2, as will be readily understood, and the handle (Z is depressed to bring said handle and the block 0 into the full line position, which operation moves the body casing a baickwardly and the links and g outwardly, and in Fig. 3 l have indicated the position of the separate parts of the spring members it of the shoe tree, the body casing a and the links 9 and when the pointer 0" was set at the indication of size 11 on the scale ca or have indicated the greatest expansion of the separate parts it of the shoe tree, as will be readily understood.

If when in the position of the parts shown in Fig. 3, or any other adjusted position from that shown in Figs. 1, 2, f and 5 of the drawing, it is desired to return the slide 0 and pawl f to their normal position, said slide is moved into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5 to bring the pawl f in line with the recess 7' in which position of said slide and pawl the same may be moved backwardly into the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 5. it being understood that the back portion of the pawl f will slideover the teeth in the rack Z) in this movement.

The construction shown in the drawing is adapted for use in connection with mens shoes from sizes 6 to 11 inclusive, but it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the particular form and construction of shoe tree herein shown and described, nor to the size of the shoe for which the same is adapted, and various changes in and modifications of the construction herein shown and described may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages. t It will alsoube understood that while I have referred in the foregoing description to the handle end of the device as the front end and the opposite or toe end as the rear end, these terms are only relative and are used for the purpose of description, and the toe end of the device may be considered the front end and the handle end the rear end.

It must be understood that the links 9 and g are connected with the spring jaws h after they have been bent into the form shown in Fig. 1, and this is accomplished by passing the end portions of the spring wire from whichi said spring jaw members it are formed through the apertures g in the free end portions of the links 9 and g and said toggles manipulated on said wires around the loops formed therein to bring them into their operative position shown in the drawing, after which said links are riveted, or otherwise connected to the body casing a, or the bottom a thereof.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a shoe tree, an oblong body casing provided in the bottom thereof with a longitudinal rack, link devices pivoted to said body casing, spring side jaws connected with said link devices, and means operating in connection with said rack to move said body casing longitudinally.

2. In a shoe tree, an oblong body casing provided in the bottom thereof with a longitudinal rack, link devices pivoted to said body casing, spring side jaws connected with said link devices, and means operating in connection with said rack to move said body casing longitudinally, consisting of a part movable longitudinally in said body casing and provided with a pivoted pawl which operates in connection with the teeth of said rack and a handle member connected with said part.

3. In a shoe tree, an oblong body casing provided in the bottom thereof with a longitudinal rack at the opposite ends of which are recesses, a part movable longitudinally in said body casing and provided with a pawl which operates in connection with the teeth of the rack, a handle member connected with said part at one end of the body casing, a link member pivotally connected with said handle member, a heel block connected with said link member, link devices pivoted to said body casing and spring jaw devices connected with said link devices at the opposite sides of said casing.

4. In a shoe tree. an oblong body casing, a longitudinal rack in the bottom of said casing, a yoke-shaped membermovable longitudinally in said casing and provided with a pivoted pawl which operates in connection with said rack, a handle device connected with said yoke-shaped member at one end of the body casing and by which said yokeshaped member is operated, and a heel block connected with said handle member.

5. In a shoe tree, an oblong central body portion, side jaws mounted on the opposite sides of said body portion and composed entirely of spring Wire and shaped to conform to the opposite sides of a shoe, and means in connection with said body portion and with said jaws for moving the latter inwardly and outwardly when the device is in a shoe.

6. A shoe tree composed of oppositely arranged spring members formed from a sin gle strip of spring material and means con nected with said members for moving them toward and from each other.

7 A shoe tree, the toe portion of which consists of opposite side jaws composed of a single piece of spring material fashioned to conform with the opposite sides of a shoe, and means connected with the opposite side jaws of the toe portion for moving said jaws toward and from each other.

8. A shoe tree, the toe portion of which consists of opposite side jaws composed of a single piece of spring material fashioned to conform with the opposite sides of a shoe, link devices connected with said side jaws, and means connected with said link devices for operating the same to move said side jaws toward and from each other.

9. A shoe tree the toe portion of which is composed of oppositely arranged spring jaws fashioned from a single strip of spring material to form a cross head portion at the opposite sides of which are forwardly and downwardly directed portions, backwardly and forwardly directed base loop portions, upwardly and laterally inclined loop portions and inwardly directed loop portions.

10. A shoe tree the toe portion of which is composed of oppositely arranged spring jaws fashioned from spring material to form a central yoke-shaped portion and at the opposite sides of which are upwardly, forwardly and downwardly directed top portions, backwardly and forwardly directed base portions and backwardly and laterally directed side portions, the ends of which are provided with inwardly directed loop portions.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 2nd day of January 1918.

RICHARD MURRAY.

Witnesses:

C. E. MULREANY, H. E. THoMPsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatenta. Washington, D. G. 

